Friday 5 December 2014

Cultivating Joy In A Season Of Thanksgiving

Last week Sunday was thanksgiving Sunday in my church, it was one of the Sundays when dancing and praise giving to the living God dominates the church service for the day with just very little preaching which is also centered around the topic of thanksgiving. And for me personally I always dedicate my entire December month to praising God. So my prayer times in Decembers are always dominated by personal worship and praises. I try hard to make very little request during my prayers and just praise God for all He has helped me and my family through in the course of the year.
On the last day of the month of November I was reminded in my spirit that beginning from the next day I am not allowed to skip prayer times and not to forget it was my month of thanksgiving. But I am sure you'll wonder why I needed to be reminded again in my spirit when I should actually be in the full thanksgiving spirit even in the month of November. Well, in truth, I am going through some financial challenges in recent times and that has caused a heaviness in my spirit. There are some projects staring me in the face that I am trusting God for financial breakthroughs for in order to accomplish these goals. Debts to be paid and bills to settle, commitments to meet up with, goals set waiting to be accomplished. So these are reasons why my heart is heavy and my spirit a little low.
But with all these said, it's still my month of thanksgiving and I will be rubbing myself of great joy if this sting of heaviness is allowed to linger for a moment longer. So I began to make efforts with my night vigils and worship hours, it seemed a struggle to thank God with so much needs and deadlines staring me in the face. But the secret to my breakthrough is hidden in my ability to look beyond the needs of my life and my deadlines and praise God and give him the worship that is due to Him.
One honest truth is that God has been faithfully good to me. He has restored my marriage, restored my dignity, removed shame and reproach from my life and has provided for most of the things I have asked of Him. But then just at this time, things are not going for me the way I expect and want them to go and it has become very easy for me to forget all that God had done in my life in the recent past.
But I bless the living God that even though things are not looking too good at the moment, yet the Lord has been very good to me. As I made frantic effort to praise God in my season of thanksgiving, I was reminded of how the Lord delivered me of another baby boy in the month of April, how He provided for the minor renovation I needed done in my apartment, how He provided for me and my husband in meeting the various needs of our children, how He has prevented me and my family from any form of infirmity even when my country went through and escaped the treat of Ebola, how I and my family are preserved from terrorist treat that is facing some part of my country. That I and my family are able to sleep and wake up in safety and not to forget my husband's promotion that came for him in his office. And I can just go on about the faithfulness of God that is so easily forgotten in the face of the prevailing challenges of my present moment.
So I began to remind myself of these wonderful things God has done in my life and thank Him, worshiping Him for His awesomeness, His unconditional love for me despite the fact that at the moment things are not looking so good. The truth is that they were once looking good and will yet look good again if I can just exercise a little faith.
About a month ago I met an old school mate that I had not seen in about 23years. I needed a favour from her and she readily assisted me, so we rekindled our friendship. One day she called to ask me how I was doing and I had loads to say about having to be a wife and mother of four all at once. She had a good job, or so I think and I feel she has no worries in life. She is single with no children, so for me no cares to worry about. But in the middle of our conversion, she told me she would give anything to be in my shoes. She longs to have a family of her own, a good husband and promising children. Yet what my friend is longing for is what I have and still take for granted.
The beautiful thing I am discovering is that as I begin to look beyond my challenges and give thanks to God in spite of them, God is taking care of my issues gradually. Those things that have been burdening my heart are been handled by God with no effort at all from me.
I know there are one or two out there who feel they have nothing to be thankful for, but when you look intently around you, there are a lot of people who are trusting God to have what you have and are taking for granted. If are enjoying good health and you feel God is unfair to you because you are still not married, then think about millions of people bedridden fighting for their lives and using their hard earned money to pay their way to good health. If you have something to eat and you feel God is not fair to you because what you had for dinner is not what you long for, then take a break and consider those who have to go to bed hungry. Some communities are hoping that one day the war that has taken over their community will end, yet you sleep in safety and take that for granted.
When you cultivate the habit of thanking God for the blessing you have received, you position yourself for greater blessings. God didn't promise us a life without challenges, but Paul said in Philippians 4:6 that "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, with prayers and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God." One secret of an effective prayer is when it is done with thanksgiving. When you remember to show gratitude for the blessings you have enjoyed from God, asking Him for greater things will not be an issue at all.
Joy is a fruit that is cultivated from an attitude of continuous thanksgiving. It is a virtue that produces peace in ones soul even when life's challenges rear their ugly head. When you learn to give thanks in troubled times, you acknowledge the ability, might and power of God in overcoming that challenge. And this acknowledgement strengthens your faith in God which in turn moves Him to act swiftly on your behalf. That is what I have learnt, and I am beginning to practice as I experience God moving in my situation.


Disputes in marriages are inevitable, but when they are not handled properly and taken care of early enough, they degenerate into very serious issues in marriage. I have heard of minor disputes leading to very serious violence in marriages. In some cases it has led to spouses killing each other. Is that little argument worth dying for? Is your husband a violent man or your wife a quarrelsome wife? Learn how to handle dispute in your marriage and enjoy the lasting peace of God in your home from my book "Marriage: God's Rules Of Engagement." Available on createspace.com via this link https://www.createspace.com/4309313 or on amazon.com via this link http://www.amazon.com/Marriage-Rules-Engagement-Aderinsola-Obasa/dp/9789238045/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417633917&sr=1-1&keywords=Marriage%3A+God%27s+Rules+of+Engagement



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